The invention pertains to devices for supporting trash bags during filling, and more particularly, to devices for filling yard refuse bags for re-cycling purposes.
Many townships require residents to separate yard refuse from other trash that is set out for scheduled pick-up by placing the yard refuse in specially-designated yard refuse bags. These yard refuse bags consist of heavy paper and are rectangular in shape, much like a large shopping bag.
However, in order to fill these bags many problems occur. For example, since the yard refuse bag consists of paper, there is no support, other than the heavy paper structure to maintain in it an open position. In addition, when the person begins filling the bag and attempts to compact the collected contents, the shape of the bag becomes distorted, causing it to fall over and/or causing any compacted twigs, branches, etc. to tear or rip the bag during the filling. If the user wants to avoid this, the user may simply not fill the entire bag, but rather just obtain another bag, thereby not getting the full use of the yard refuse bag which is wasteful.
The following patents are examples of attempts to solve some of the above problems but suffer from one or more other problems discussed below.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,890,652/ 4,979,5471/(Hoemer) disclose a collapsible trash bag support sleeve. However, the sleeve suffers from a number of problems such as failure to retain a rectangular shape during filling, thereby stressing the bag which tends to rip it. Furthermore, the trash bag""s upper portion must be secured in anchoring slits that tend to rip the trash bag during filling. In addition, despite the use of firm panels, the overall sleeve may tend to twist and deform; this distortion not only makes it difficult to release the sleeve from the trash bag (once the bag is filled), but it also tends to rip/tear the trash bag. In addition, the use of adhesives, or other closure means, to form the rectangular sleeve tends to wear after much use, which further aggravates the tendency to distort the sleeve shape. Should the closure means disengage, the yard refuse is then exposed to the trash bag, thereby defeating the purpose of the sleeve. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,037,778 (Boyle); 5,897,084 (Judge).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,022 (Reifers) discloses a device for loading trash bags. However, this device is meant for particular use with a conventional plastic trash bag and would, most likely, tear or rip a yard refuse bag due to the latter""s rectangular construction and the bag engagement mechanism at the top of the device. Furthermore, the device requires that the user frequently lift the device/bag as it is filled in different stages in order to force collected yard refuse down inside the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,561 (O""Leary et al.) discloses a support for a flexible container. However, this support suffers from, among other things, a slit that can expose the refuse to the trash bag directly. In addition, this support is designed for a small, in-house trash container, not a large yard refuse bag.
Other trash bag support devices are shown in the following U.S. patents, namely, U.S. Pat. No. 576,782 (Goodrich); U.S. Pat. No. 579,228 (Frame); U.S. Pat. No. 645,544 (Bissell); U.S. Pat. No. 1,668,053 (Dawson); U.S. Pat. No. 2,172,529 (Barker et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,524 (Jerpbak); U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,087 (Alexander); U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,081 (Hawkinson); U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,011(Rylander); U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,533 (Dieter); U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,982 (Cooke); U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,292 (Beckham); U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,965 (Aulabaugh); U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,609 (Tobin); U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,125 (Caveney); U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,554 (Dauphinais); U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,589 (Belous); U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,060 (Hodgon et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,022 (Palumbo); U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,117 (Alexander, III); U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,033 (Gibson);
However, none of these references appear to teach or suggest the use of a rigid liner inside a yard refuse bag that not only prevents the tearing/ripping of the yard bag during filling, but remains stable throughout the filling and removal operation, while providing features that facilitate the removal of the liner from the yard refuse bag after filling.
Accordingly, it is the general object of this invention to provide overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for facilitating the filling of a yard refuse bag by controlling the balance of the yard bag.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for facilitating the filling of a yard refuse bag by preventing the ripping/tearing of the yard bag during filling of the yard bag.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for facilitating the filling of a yard refuse bag by permitting increased pressure to be applied to the yard refuse, already in the yard bag, in order to compact it, thereby permitting more yard refuse to be collected into the yard bag without ripping/tearing it.
It is even yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for facilitating the filling of a yard refuse bag that can be more easily removed from the yard bag by utilizing a tapered construction.
It is still yet even a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for facilitating the filling of a yard refuse bag that can be more easily removed from the yard bag using air vents in the apparatus.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for facilitating the filling of a yard refuse bag that utilizes rounded interior corners to minimize lodging of the yard refuse in the apparatus.
It is still yet another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for facilitating the filling of a yard refuse bag that utilizes an associated compactor for compacting already-collected yard refuse to make room for more yard refuse.
These and other objects of the instant invention are achieved by providing an apparatus for facilitating the collection of yard refuse (e.g., dry leaves, twigs, branches, trimmed shrubbery, or any other waste designated by local ordinances to be xe2x80x9cyard waste sufficient for re-cyclingxe2x80x9d) into a yard refuse bag. The apparatus comprises an elongated rigid enclosure having an open bottom wherein the apparatus is adapted to be positioned inside the yard refuse bag.
Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is an isometric view showing the rigid yard bag liner and a manual compactor;
FIG. 2 is an isometric view showing the rigid yard bag liner partially disposed inside a yard refuse bag;
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the rigid yard bag liner and yard bag taken along line 3xe2x80x943 of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rigid yard bag liner and yard bag taken along line 4xe2x80x944 of FIG. 2.